HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut's Office of State Ethics has
decided to drop its investigation of whether the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Bridgeport should have registered as a lobbyist to hold
rallies and use its Web site to oppose legislation.

The decision comes a day after Attorney General Richard Blumenthal advised the office that applying the state's vague lobbying laws to the church is likely unconstitutional.

He said the office should abandon its investigation of the church and a March 11 rally, when the church bused hundreds of Catholics to the state Capitol to protest legislation that would have changed the way parishes' finances are handled.

T.J Jones, the state's ethics enforcement officer, said in light of Blumenthal's letter, he's closing the investigation.

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